February Chill
by Little Girl Geek
Summary: Dana always asks me why I watch the sky at night. One-shot. First person Max POV. R


**A/N: HERE WE ARE.**

**I write about 4 or 5 fics a week and never upload them, or work on them anymore, but this is was a small exercise that turned into a more wonderful piece of writing than I could have hoped.**

**...Or I hope so. lol It all depends on what you think.**

**YES, This is TECHNICALLY Terry/Dana, which is not my first choice, but I wanted to try to do something more canon than usual. Max-centric. LOVE LOVE LOVE Max. And no character is without their darkness.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Beyond nor any of its fantastic characters.**

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Dana always asks me why I watch the sky at night- ground level has a never ending smog cover, and the stars are just barely, faintly visible from the crowded streets of neo-Gotham's corners and alleys.

Her eyes quirk in confusion more than worry. Sometimes I'll catch her legs quaking, dress fluttering- as much as it can- in the late, chilling wind. But she never goes to rub her arms. She doesn't pull her legs together to lessen the chill. Not ever. Instead she'll always stand strong, holding her ground, as though she expects a comet to pass over us if she watches with me.

On nights when it's particularly cold, as we leave the warmth of the skyrise buildings and dingy joints behind, as my head tilts to the roofs and my eyes scan their tops, I can't help but want to tell her. Like a pain in my chest that promises misery, I feel her stop behind me, her heel scraping the sidewalk in a final, settling halt, preparing herself for the waiting she has become so accustom to.

I always wonder, does she know what I'm watching for?

Does she know that when I stare into the night, as though watching for the star that will sweep me away, I'm really watching for that one small blotch that covers them all up?

That against the midnight background I find myself scanning for the darkest pitch of black?

And then, when I remember that I am not alone, and that she really is there behind me, I always remember the lies. The way he tells her he's got to bail, or worse, makes me do it. The way she calls me late at night, asking me to take her somewhere, anywhere; the way she cries to me, "He doesn't care, there's someone else, he doesn't want me anymore."

Sometimes I want to knock some sense into her- to shake her shoulders until her knees buckle under her, and scream at the top of my lungs:

THIS IS SO MUCH BIGGER THAN YOU.

But I can't.

I know I can't.

And I know she can't stop.

Because without his secret, she will always be the lonely girlfriend, lost and heartbroken, wondering where he's gone.

And _with_ his secret, I will always be watching the sky, waiting for some sort of sign that he's there, that he's okay and still fighting. That he's still defending this city, this horrible, dirty city that deserves nothing he's given it.

Can this really be okay? Is it alright for me to know what he's doing, why he won't answer her calls, when all she can do is wallow in the agony of not knowing? Even without his past, Gotham is unforgiving- Does she ever think maybe he's in trouble? That he's been mugged, been crushed, been caught in a crossfire?

It _has _to be better this way. Because even if she is the girlfriend, where I am the best friend, she wouldn't dare breathe while he was out of sight. She wouldn't speak, wouldn't move, wouldn't blink, until he was right there again, right there holding her in the night.

I know Dana Tan, and I know, maybe better than anyone else,

that she loves Terry McGinnis.

Every bit of her loves him, no matter how much they fight or yell or argue.

I know because she watches the sky with me.

And in those moments, I can feel her heart beating-

low and shallow,

just like mine.

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**No one I know watches Batman Beyond, so I'd LOVE to have some feedback on this. The first in a series is always the most nervewrecking, waiting to see how people react to it.**

**Review?**

**Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it. =]**

**-Little Girl Geek**


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